Page 9 of Promised Summer
It wasn’t a question, just a statement of the facts, so I nodded.
“She has your eyes,” he added, this time sounding more rueful.
“Her mom and I used to joke that fate brought us together because of our similar eyes,” I replied with a reminiscing smile. A bright laugh and eyes eerily similar to mine appeared in my mind, and it had my smile faltering.
Kassy was the only person I knew with eyes the same shade of blue as mine, bright, almost as if theyglowed. We used to joke that we were long-lost siblings, and withKassandra being an orphan, she could have been related to me somehow. Mom told me I got my eyes from her great-grandmother, so Kassy might very well be one of her descendants.
“Used to?” Jones prompted.
“She…” I licked my lips to quell the dryness that was taking my throat again. It must just be really dry in this part of town, though that didn’t explain the prickling in my eyes. I stared at my hand gripping my water cup. “She passed a few months ago.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, and the sincerity of his voice had me looking at him again. There was genuine concern on his face, which didn’t help my rapidly increasing heartbeat as I took him all in.
I flicked my gaze away and murmured, “Thank you.”
Jones chuckled softly. “It feels like all you’ve done today is thank me.”
“I guess you need to be less helpful then,” I joked, glancing up again when his laugh echoed in the kitchen. His laugh was very bad for my heart.
Jones had been handsome as a teen, but he’d been more lanky than anything else back then. Now, as an adult, he’d really filled out his frame. He was maybe an inch taller than my six-one, but he had me beat in size. His bulging arm muscles told me he either didn’t have an office job like I did, or he was a very frequentvisitor to the gym. He could probably bench press me if he wanted to…
“Is that why you’re here?” Jones’ question had me realizing that I was checking him out.
I cleared my throat, ignoring his smirk, which said he totally knew I wasogling him.
“Sorry, what was the question?”
“Is her passing the reason you’re in Kither Springs?” he repeated, and I nodded.
“After…after Kassy died…” The words dried up again, and then my phone’s ringtone echoed in my ears, replayingthedreaded call.
“You don’t have to talk about it.” Jones’ hand landed on my shoulder. I hadn’t even known he’d come around the island to stand beside me. In a much softer tone, he added, “I’m sorry for bringing it up.”
“It’s okay,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’m okay, but even if I wasn’t, I need to be.”
“For Karla?”
I nodded.
“She was in the car with Kassy when the accident happened. Some drunk motherfucker drove on the wrong side of the highway and hit them head on.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, and I nodded in agreement, because what else could you say?
“Flipped the car right over. Thankfully, Karla’s car seat kept her safely buckled, but Kassy wasn’t as lucky… I’d always told her she needed to trade in that old beater of hers for something more reliable. I should’ve been more persuasive. Maybe then, her seat belt wouldn’t have unbuckled in the accident. Maybe then…”
She’d still be alive.
“It’s not your fault,” Jones whispered in my ear, and I was suddenly in his arms. His bulky arms held me so differently from the smaller ones of his youth, and yet it was somehow very familiar at the same time.
“It’s not your fault,” he repeated.
I sank into the hug, letting my head rest on his shoulder.
He smelled the same as my memories, like sunshine and a bit of dirt, but not in a bad way. It was the smell of nature and all the afternoons we’d played outdoors on those sunny days so long ago.
“Kassy died before theparamedics even got there,” I continued softly. In his arms, retelling the story felt easier, but I’d always felt brave with Jones. He gave me the safety to be. “Karla had some bruising, but she was fine for the most part, at least physically. I can’t imagine the trauma the poor girl experienced in that moment, crying for someone to help her mommy… It’s one of the reasons she doesn’t talk anymore, at least that’s what the therapist thinks.”
Jones rubbed my back the entire time I unloaded on him. He didn’t interrupt me or rush me and just let me talk, even though he probably still hated me for what I did back then.
